It’s probably a little too late to wish everyone a happy new year, but I will do so all the same: may it be good to you and your loved ones! Mine has started out in fine style after a delightful Christmas spent at home with family and far too much chocolate. I had some lovely presents (mainly books) but the most enjoyable has been a belated birthday present: a Bosworth mini drop-spindle with a purpleheart whorl.
It spins so well and I find I can get thread-thin yarn almost effortlessly. It came packed in pencil roving (it’s wool, though I’m not sure what kind) and I wasted no time in spinning it up and then plying it (I used the Andean plying bracelet technique) into this, a heavy laceweight:
I’ve already begun knitting it into something, and although this will undoubtedly confirm suspicions that I am a very odd person, it makes me so happy to know that I can take what is essentially fluff and turn it into a finished garment. The next step, of course, would be to buy a raw (unprocessed) fleece which I would wash and sort myself, but as I am still a baby spindler, I think I will leave off on that ’til I have more experience.
I spent the last few days of my holiday designing a new layout for the blog. I liked the previous one well enough, but I was tired of it and wanted something more muted. You can’t get much more muted than grey! I think (hope) I’ve ironed out all the niggles, but if you find any then do let me know. (I was shocked to read in my stats that most of my visitors use IE6 (IE7 or Firefox or Chrome or Opera are all so much better!) and am aware that the sidebar ne marche pas in that browser. I will try and fix it some time, but as I am pretty certain that the fault lies in the browser’s inability to render correct CSS, and not in my coding, that time may not be soon.)
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’ve been busy:
I would like to expand on the photos, but as ever, have run out of time. I’ll just mention a rather unusually beautiful video I saw today: a Guy with a camera in his head broadcasts footage from inside the flames. Eerie and moving.
I have few long overdue photos to share today for anyone interested in henges. On the last day of August I visited the Avebury henge, one of the largest prehistoric stone circles in Europe. Unfortunately someone also went and built a village in the middle of it. (There’s an aerial photograph here.) Still, it’s very impressive and worth a visit purely for the mind-boggling historical nature of the place. Nearby is the partially excavated West Kennet Long Barrow, one of the largest surviving British long barrows. I kept an eye open for wights but was disappointed – or should that be relieved?
I was reminded to post these by the recent news on Stonehenge’s construction date. Sadly (but unsurprisingly) the Stonehenge stones have been roped off since 1977, unless you make a special booking. At Avebury there are no ropes or barriers, although I imagine that attempting to climb the stones would result in your immediate removal!
Further reading: Avebury: a present from the past
After an exhausting week, during which I’ve managed to injure my hip and shoulder (temporarily, I trust), this weekend is going to be pure bliss. I intend to move very little, but might start spinning up this fat braid of chocolatey BFL roving, courtesy of The Yarn Yard:
Good enough to eat. But I won’t.
…well, it’s not very attractive yarn – being both under-spun and over-spun – and I suspect that people would pay good money not to knit with it, but those are minor, frivolous details. It’s twisty stringy stuff, and it stays together (so far).
Brace yourselves…
There, isn’t that perfectly hideous? I’m proud of it, though. It’s about 43 yards and 10 inches, or 39.5 metres. I don’t know what weight it is because it varies between slubby and thick to almost dental-floss thin. I’m happy to report that my spinning evened up considerably towards the end, though.
I used up all of the Bowmont roving that I bought at the iKnit day, and promptly ordered 100g of Blue Faced Leicester tops from World of Wool.
Attempt the Second:
I’m getting the hang of it now. It’s still thick-and-thin, but seems to get more consistent every time I pick up the spindle for another go – and I do so frequently. There is certainly a learning curve, but I like the challenge very much. I’m leching after a lighter spindle (so as to spin fingering and lace-weight – I would love to be able to use my own handspun in my doll clothes, for example!) and maybe a spinning wheel at some nebulous point in the future.
Further reading:
